Chandler - That's what I had heard before I came to Philly. I am a Temple student, and I couldn't stay inthe Temple area because of all the bad things I had heard about the campus and surrounding areas. I know people from my class who stay on or close to campus and haven't had any problems so far. I stayed on 43rd and Locust for 6 months and didn't have any problems then, nor do I have any now, in CC (knock wood).
I was in a small town in Indiana before I came to Philly and there, I could walk at 2 in the morning without any trouble...it was supposed to be one of the safest campuses on US. Now, I cannot do the same thing here because it's obviously a bigger city. Does it have a high homicide rate? Maybe, but from what I've heard, it's concentrated in some parts of the city. There was a phase about a couple of months back when there were a few incidences in the subway, but the security was beefed up and haven't heard anything since. The rule of thumb is be aware of your surroundings, but don't seem as though you're afraid. Use common sense, which includes not walking alone at 2 in the night.
It might not be one of the safest cities to live in, but it's better than being in Detroit.

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The truth? Well, here goes.

I've lived in Philly for over 8 years and have travelled around the world, including China.

During my time in Philly, I have never been the victim of a mugging, physical assault, or even a pickpocketing. Meanwhile, I've been pickpocketed in Europe and drugged and robbed in Manila.

All that said, I lived in Center City and that made a lot of difference. A friend of mine who has lived in just about every other section of Philly except the Northeast has been the victim of numerous muggings. It's gotten to the point that we joke that he attracts those people. A lot of your experiences will depend on where you stay and what areas of the city you visit.

As noted previously, a lot of the crime in Philly is between 2 people who know each other. I'd say, compared with Europe and some other areas of the world, you stand a much less chance of getting pickpocketed as long as you stay in the so called "good areas" of the city (Center City, parts of University City, Manayunk, etc.). Once outside those areas, I'd say a lot of it depends on whether you look like you belong or not. It's sad to say, but much of Philly outside of the "good areas" is racially divided, meaning that someone of a different race venturing into those areas will be seen as an outsider and thus more vulnerable to people who are up to no good (since they know that the outsider likely doesn't have friends nearby). That was the fate of my friend (the chronic mugging victim) since he's taken to living in areas of the city where he was the only person of his race and people just assumed that he was lost.

As for violence in the US in general, I don't think the US is really any more violent than any other society. It is just that the violence tends to involve guns a lot more and thus homicide is much more common. As far as US cities are concerned, I think statistics show that violence is actually more prevalent on a per capita basis in rural areas and smaller cities in the southern US than it is elsewhere in the country. A lot of that has to do with three things: (1) the prevalence of guns (which is much mroe part of the culture south of the Mason-Dixon line); (2) poverty (the South being more poor); and (3) lack of education (schools in the deep South are consistently rated as being among the worst in the country).

Unfortuantely, these same three factors (prevalence of guns, poverty, lack of education) tend to be prevalent in some of the major cities in the northern US even when the North, overall, has less violent crime. Why? Because many cities of the North grew large on industrialization and when that declined, many people moved away to other areas or to the suburbs. The inner cities emptied out and the people who remained tended to be poorer people who couldn't move out and poverty leads to frustration which often leads to violence. Also, beacuse of the disinvestment, schools became worse and worse.

Cities like Detroit are shining examples of what can happen when a city empties out. Philly is kind of a weird hybrid. People have called it "a little bit of Boston surrounded by a lot of Detroit" and that description generally holds true. The central part of the city has held up well and people have generally not left it to move elsewhere. In fact, people have been moving in. As a result, violent crime is relatively low on a per capita basis. Other areas of the city, however, have followed the model of Detroit and have suffered severe population decline. As a result, the factors ahve worked to make those areas have a high level of violence per capita.

Unfortunately, many of the major schools in Philly are either located within the bad areas (Temple) or on the edge thereof (Penn and Drexel). So my recommendation is to realize that, the closer you are to the center of the city, the better. If you are at Temple, see if you can live closer to the center of the city and commute to Temple. If you are at Penn or Drexel, realize that the area is fine but be street smart and notice that the further east you are (closer to the center of the city), the better off you will be.

This thread is fascinating. I think it represents our collective misunderstanding about our violent crime epidemic.

The theory that almost all violent crime is related to drug dealing is not accurate. If folks have paid attention to the crime in Philadelphia recently, it has very little to do with drugs and a lot more to do with pride, easy access to guns and a general urban condition that has created intense frustration in our poorest neighborhoods.

Prison recidivism is high, many folks in these neighborhoods have been to prison and back -- and bring the "respect" contests that are prevalent in prison back to the streets. So talking about someone behind their back, looking at them the wrong way, dating someone's ex, etc. is now elevated to a higher level of seriousness. This has been going on for some time in Philadelphia and all of our urban centers, but the easy access to guns along with a continuing lack of jobs and good, accessible education means we will continue to have problems with violent and murderous crime.

It is rare, but every few months or so, there is a story about someone getting hit by a stray bullet. I am really appalled by the lack of care or concern shown on phillblog for the folks who live in our poor neighborhoods. Obviously, there is not a lot of representation on this board from those neighborhoods, but 'stay out of this neighborhood' is no cure, it's an act of class supremacy.

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That's common for people who say who have never stepped one foot inside Philadelphia, ever, in their entire lives.

Either that, or they came down here and got skeered of all the guys in hoodies--which is like the official male uniform of the city.

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Who are you to come on here and make sense?

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Chandler Bing? Is Friends big in Manchuria? I smell a fake post.

I've actually lived here all my life, except for 4 years in college. I was commenting on the logic that all the poor and dangerous people that can't afford NYC move to Philly because it's next door. I just think that's ridiculous!

Yes it is totally ridiculous. The poor and deranged were here in large numbers WAY before we started getting NYC overflow.

Yeah I've heard more than once that Allentown is crap because the rents in Washington Heights went way up so all the Puerto Ricans moved over there... that's why Allentown is a hellhole.

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Don't forget:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spUJF...eature=related

Yeah, I would think the overflow would be to places like Yonkers, Newark, etc. The "poor and dangerous" crowd tend not to stray too far from home. Much of the problem in Philly is not that there's been overflow from other places but that there hasn't been *enough* overflow. Hence, there's been a net population decrease and, with that, disinvestment which has led to poor schools, bad neighborhoods, fewer job opportunities, and all the other elements that lead to violence and crime.